Continuous or intermittent diarrhoea is very common among dogs. When the symptoms are mild, the owner may try to alleviate the diarrhoea by fasting, changing diet, feeding fermented dairy products and medicinal products available without prescription. If the condition of the dog weakens, the animal is taken to a vet for examination and laboratory experiments. The diarrhoea may be derived from small intestines, from large intestines or it may involve both intestines. The diagnosis is made based on the symptoms, appearance of faeces, anamnesis, physical examination and laboratory tests.
The spectrum of canine gastrointestinal disorders involving chronic diarrhoea is wide: protein-losing enteropathy; lymphangiectasis; foodborne diarrhoea; inflammatory bowel disease including lymphocytic-plasmacytic gastroenteritis, eosinophilic gastroenterocolitis, regional granulomatous enteritis, histiocytic ulcerative colitis, and suppurative enterocolitis; irritable bowel syndrome; villus atrophy; diarrhoea caused by intestinal parasites and protozoan; bacterial and viral infections; antibiotic responsive diarrhoea (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). Also other causatives of diarrhoea have been identified such as opportunistic fungi and algae, intestinal tumours and blockage, as well as some non-gastrointestinal disorders such as renal insufficiency, disorders of liver, right cardiac insufficiency, adrenal insufficiency, and diabetes mellitus. Also stress can trigger diarrhoea by reducing secretion of gastric hydrochloric acid, or by altering the population or activity of the intestinal flora. In many cases the aetiology remains unknown, and the diarrhoea is treated symptomatically.
The traditional approach to the treatment of canine gastrointestinal problems relies on dietary modifications, antibiotic treatment, and specific anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs, either individually or combined. Many of the canine gastrointestinal disorders are treated with antibiotics, even when the diagnosis is uncertain or yet tentative. This treatment may involve even weeks of antibiotic therapy with several renewals. Due to increasing problems with antimicrobial resistance, alternative therapies should be considered. As one of the alternative therapies treatment with probiotic bacteria, especially with lactic acid bacteria, have been suggested due to their health-conferring properties.
Lactic acid bacteria form a heterogenous group of gram-positive bacteria. The bacteria included in the group are non-sporing, nonrespiring cocci or rod, which produce lactic acid as the major end product during the fermentation of carbohydrates. The best-known genera are Enterococcus, Lactobacillus, Lactococcus, Leuconostoc, Pediococcus, Streptococcus and Weissella, Lactobacillus being the largest genus consisting of about 80 recognized species. Lactic acid bacteria constitute an important part of the human and animal intestinal microbiota. Although lactic acid bacteria are known to play an important role in the intestine in protecting the host against pathogenic species, only little is known on the role of these bacterial species in canine intestine. Most of the recognized canine intestinal lactic acid bacteria belong to the genera Streptococcus and Lactobacillus.
Probiotics are living microbes, microbial cell preparations or components of microbial cells that are used to promote health as such or as a food product. These microbes usually belong to the species Lactobacillus sp. or Bifidobacterium sp. The ingestion of probiotic lactic acid bacteria has many documented or potential benefits, such as modulation of the GI-tract, antagonism against pathogenic microbes, and maintaining the intestinal mucosal barrier. Adhesion to the intestinal mucosa is considered to be one of the main mechanisms for the probiotic lactic acid bacteria to benefit the health of the host. Probiotic lactic acid bacteria have been proposed to function through several mechanisms to exert their beneficial biological effects on the host: Competing for nutrients and epithelial attachment sites prevents colonization of the host. Probiotics produce antimicrobial compounds and acids reducing intestinal pH making the environment for undesirable microbes, such as pathogens, unfavorable. In addition, probiotic lactic acid bacteria recruit immune cells and activate immune and/or inflammatory responses by altering cytokinone and chemokine release as well as secret antimicrobial peptides. The ability of probiotic bacteria ingestion to alter the nasal and vaginal microbiota suggests that intestinal microbiota activates immune responses located to mucosa-associated lymphoid tissues. Probiotic administration has been associated with decreased risk of systemic conditions such as allergy and infection of ear, urinary tract and vagina.
Some strains of lactic acid bacteria have been documented to have beneficial effects on the health of dogs. In order to be successful probiotics, bacteria should survive the gastrointestinal tract and therefore tolerate bile and the acid conditions of the gut. The probiotic characteristics of bacteria are also linked to host specificity, which is a very important criterion for selection of a probiotic. Host specificity is required by law in human probiotics. Most of the commercial probiotic strains aimed for dogs are not from canine origin. Furthermore, majority of the probiotic preparations for animals contain Enterococcus faecium , which has been shown to have negative effects due to its potential pathogenic characteristics.
Beasley S. et al, (Lactic acid bacteria isolated from canine faeces, Journal of Applied Microbiology, 101 (2006) 131-138) disclose the isolation and sequencing of lactic acid bacteria from the faeces of healthy dogs. Five of the strains, Lactobacillus fermentum, L. mucosae, L. rhamnosus, L. salivarius and Weissella confusa, were selected as candidate probiotics based on their frequency, quantity in faeces, growth density, acid tolerance and anti-microbial activity.
The research of Beasley et al was continued by Manninen T. et al. (Alteration of the Canine Small-Intestinal Lactic Acid Bacterium Microbiota by Feeding of Potential Probiotics, Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Oct. 2006, p. 6539-6543) in an examination of the in vitro tolerances of the above-mentioned five candidate probiotic strains of lactic acid bacteria to canine jejunal chyme. The strains were fed twice a day mixed with dog food for 7 days to five permanently fistulated beagles. The strains were found to survive in and to dominate the jejunal chyme lactic acid microbiota during feeding and to have the ability to modify the intestinal microbiota.
In addition to use of probiotics, also other approaches to modify canine gut flora have been disclosed. Oligosaccharides such as inulin and various fructo-oligosaccharides have been reported to favour the growth of bifidobacteria and lactobacteria in the gastro-intestinal tract and to decrease the amount of pathogens such as Clostridium perfringens. EP 0 850 569 B1 discloses a cereal product useful as a pet food comprising a gelatinized starch matrix containing prebiotic oligosaccharide in the form of inulin, and optionally also prebiotic fructo-oligosaccharide. This product is said to have beneficial effect in the gastro-intestinal tract of the consumer and hence upon the consumer as a whole. When fed to dogs improved palatability, increased bifidobacteria counts, decreased C. perfringens counts, and decreased faecal pH, odour and volume were reported.
Also probiotics combined with other potentially beneficial substances have been disclosed. WO 2007/076534 discloses a composition comprising at least one antioxidant such as vitamin E, vitamin C and/or β-carotene optionally in conjunction with one or more of a probiotic and a prebiotic. As suitable probiotics several species of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus are listed, oligosaccharides, galactans and β-glucans being mentioned as suitable prebiotics. The composition is stated to be useful for enhancing the balance of beneficial and deleterious bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract of an animal having a risk for inflammatory bowel disease, said animals including humans as well as avian, bovine, canine, equine, feline, hircine, murine, ovine and porcine animals.
US 2005/0175598 A1 discloses methods of use of probiotic Bifidobacteria, obtainable by isolation from resected and washed GI tract of mammals, preferably of dogs, in companion animals, these methods including treatment of immune system, weight control and body composition, urinary health, skin and coat diseases, and ageing. Said probiotics can be administered orally in viable or non-viable form, for example prepared into a composition for normal dietary intake such as kibbles and wet animal food, or to be used as a supplement, exemplified by biscuits, chews, treats, powders, suspensions, and capsules. As additional components the compositions may comprise protein, fat, carbohydrate, prebiotics, long-chain fatty acids, and zinc. Examples of prebiotics include oligosaccharides, fructo-oligosaccharides, galacto-oligosaccharides, xylo-oligosaccharides, and oligo derivatives of starch.
EP 1 290 136 B1 discloses six novel probiotic strains of lactic acid bacteria: feline Lactobacillus reuteri NCC2581, Lactobacillus reuteri NCC2592 and Lactobacillus rhamnosus NCC2583, and canine Lactobacillus reuteri NCC2603, Lactobacillus reuteri NCC2613 and Lactobacillus acidophilus NCC2628. Also disclosed is a method of obtaining probiotic strains for cats and dogs, including isolating lactic acid bacteria strains from cats and dogs faeces, and selecting strains having the capability to grow producing at least 1.0E+06 cfu/ml in the presence of up to 2.0% bile salts, and having the capability to grow producing at least 1.0E+06 cfu/ml after 2 hours at a pH range from 3.4 to 4.2. Also disclosed is a method of preparing a dog or cat food composition including an additional step of incorporating the selected strain(s) into a dog or cat food composition. As suitable bacterial strains Lactobacillus reuteri, L. acidophilus, L. animalis, L. ruminis, L. johnsonii, L. casei, L. paracasei, L. rhamnosus, L. fermentum, Bifidobacterium sp., Enterococcus faecium , and Enterococcus sp. are listed. The pet food is intended for the health of the gastrointestinal tract and skin and/or coat system of cats and/or dogs, and ameliorating or reducing the effects of ageing. The pet food may contain, in addition to the bacteria strains and/or its fermented medium, a starch source, a protein source and lipid source, a prebiotic carbohydrate in an amount of less than about 20 % by weight of the dried pet food, as well as long chain fatty acids, minerals and vitamins to supplement the pet food into a nutritionally complete product.
Despite of the variety of the state of the art solutions and recent developments in the field, it is clear that there still is a need for a dog-specific preparation, which can be used for preventing and treating a wide spectrum of canine gastrointestinal disorders, and secondary conditions originating from these disorders, preferably avoiding the use of antibiotics. The benefits of the present preparation are seen especially in chronic disorders requiring long-term treatment, and in disorders not responding to other therapies or to specific diet.